Hermione AU! Collection
by LoveWeasley
Summary: A collection of stories centered around Hermione Granger in various AU!s. Various pairings, of course
1. Different House: Hermione the Hufflepuff

Hermione Granger was practically vibrating as she stood in the Great Hall and waited to be Sorted. She had already talked the ear off of literally everyone she had encountered, but she was still struggling to stay silent as Professor McGonagall called more and more people forward. Her itch to talk came from the growing anxiety bubbling up inside of her and the need to expend even a modicum of that energy in some other way.

She was nervous about where she would go. She was worried she wouldn't have any friends where she went either. She was panicking even more about the Hat being sat on her head and telling her she didn't belong anywhere and she wasn't magical enough and to just go back home.

Back home. Back to where she had only ever had one friend, a friend she was still planning on writing to while in Hogwarts. Of course, Emma thought she was just going to a boarding school in Scotland. She couldn't know about magic, no matter how much Hermione had begged Professor McGonagall or how badly she wanted to tell her friend or how awful she felt in lying to one of the only people she knew loved her and cared for her.

She almost vomited as she heard her name called out, but her face broke into a manic grin and she practically sprinted to the stool and slammed the hat on her bushy head.

" _You're a very clever one, aren't you,"_ Hermione barely kept herself composed as the Hat's voice drifted into her head. She did let out a small sigh of relief as she realized the Sorting could potentially be swung by her own voice (or was it unvoiced?) opinion.

 _"I do consider intelligence to be my best trait,"_ Hermione thought back. Perhaps Ravenclaw would suit her well. It was definitely a House that played to her strengths well.

 _"Now, now, lass. Sorting you isn't always easy as all that. Your intelligence would get you to Ravenclaw, but your drive might kill you there. You're one who needs a good support system,"_ Hermione wanted to feel offended at that, but all she felt was relief that the Hat could see deeper than she thought. Maybe it could give her what she really needed. She glanced towards the Gryffindor table. She knew it was the house that Professor Dumbledore himself had been in, and everyone strove to be a Gryffindor. They were the brave ones. They were fearless. She wanted to be fearless, too.

 _"I know exactly what you need…_ HUFFLEPUFF!" The Sorting Hat cried out, and Hermione froze in shock. She stiffly rose from her seat and walked towards the table that was giving her cheerful applause, though the sound rang in her deaf ears. She tried not to let tears spring from her eyes. She had heard everyone on the train making fun of the Hufflepuff House, saying it was for the rest of the students who just didn't belong. It was for the students who weren't so bright. Was that who she truly was? Was her intelligence just a sham? Was she truly this much of an outcast?

The clapping hit her ears again and as she approached the table she saw two of the girls that had been Sorted before her grin wide and beckon her over. This almost had her freezing again. Even on the train, she had had to invite herself into compartments to introduce herself to others. No one was ever coming to her first. She warily sat down beside the two, not sure if this was going to end up as some kind of prank.

"Hello! Welcome to Hufflepuff, Hermione! My name is Susan and this is my best friend Hannah," the girl to her left said brightly, but quietly as the next student had gone up to be Sorted.

"It's nice to meet you," Hermione said back politely, and Susan beamed at her.

"I think you'll really love it in Hufflepuff. My aunt went here and she can never stop talking about what a great time she had. A new recruit for the Aurors showed up this year and she's become one of Auntie's favorites, too. Tonks always talks about the trouble she got into, she just graduated last year. She told me our dorm is right by the kitchens, and it's so easy to sneak in," Susan gushed some more, and Hermione brightened a bit, though what Susan had said had caught her attention.

"So is your aunt an Auror, too?" Hermione questioned.

"She used to be, but Aunt Amelia is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Has been for quite a few years now," Susan explained, and Hermione's heart felt even lighter than previously. Perhaps she had been a bit quick to judge this House. If a member had become the Head of a Department and another was a favorite of said Head, this House couldn't possibly be just for outcasts and - dare she say it - dunderheads.

The Sorting finished up and after the Headmaster said one of the strangest speeches she had ever heard their food magically appeared in front of her. Hermione's stomach increasingly became full, as did her heart, as the rest of Hufflepuff House began to talk to her and ask how she and the other first years were doing.

It felt different, to be surrounded by so many people who seemed to genuinely care about her person. They listened to her ramble with kind amusement and interest in their eyes. They asked her questions to let her know they had been listening and not one of them rolled her eyes. As her anxiety ebbed away, she found herself able to slow down her babbling and her recitation of random facts from books, and she entered more calmly into the general conversation. She didn't notice the flash of triumph and warmth in the older student's eyes as they watched her nervousness fade.

As they got ready to leave, Susan grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear, "I'm _so_ glad you got Sorted into Hufflepuff, Hermione."

For the second time that night, Hermione felt tears fill her eyes.

* * *

 **Hall of Mirrors: 1) Different House AU!**


	2. Genderbend: Horatio's First Date

Hogsmeade was always crowded on those few weekends throughout the year when the students were allowed to visit. This weekend, however, it was absolutely filled to the brim with frantic customers as Christmas was rapidly approaching.

Therefore, it was a pretty awful time to choose to go on a first date, but that didn't stop Horatio Granger from asking Tracey Davis to accompany him to the village. Tracey had been Horatio's study partner since first year. Both of them were outcasts in their respective Houses. Horatio was considered an insufferable know-it-all by the majority of Gryffindor House and Tracey was a half-blood in Slytherin, so it was a wonder she had survived as long as she did.

Of course, they had eventually made friends in their Houses. Daphne Greengrass had taken Tracey under her wing and Horatio had been saved by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley by a mountain troll. Horatio had vowed never to eat dinner alone in the toilets ever again, no matter how much he was teased.

His friends had teased him relentlessly about going on his first date. Well, Ron had joined in only after whining for an hour about Horatio dating a sneaky Slytherin girl. Harry had smacked him over the head and Ginny had kicked him in the shin so his ire became focused elsewhere long enough for him to grudgingly admit that Tracey was nice - for a Slytherin.

"Am I to assume that we're heading to Tomes and Scrolls first chance we can get?" Tracey asked as they dodged around the masses.

"We are pretty predictable, aren't we?" Horatio answered and Tracey grinned.

"Well, it's not like we'll be getting into Honeydukes or Zonkos anytime soon with that - oh, Merlin, there's a queue wrapped around the building!" Tracey gasped in astonishment. Horatio agreed that the sheer amount of people waiting to get inside the two buildings was almost awe-inspiring.

"I was thinking if we did a later lunch we could miss any big crowds at the Three Broomsticks. I'd rather die than go into Madame Puddifoot's," they both shuddered at the thought of that pink pastel nightmare.

"Let's head in then, we just have to push through this wall and we've made it," Tracey's face became very determined. Horatio readied himself to sprint ahead, but Tracey had already grabbed his arm and was weaving them both through the throngs much more forcefully than someone of her stature should have been able to do.

The book shop was blissfully quiet compared to outside. Thankfully, people didn't really seem to think that books were the best Christmas gifts (Horatio and Tracey would both disagree) and they only found a few Ravenclaws inside.

"I always forget Shakespeare was a wizard," Tracey whispered as they passed by the fiction section. They had agreed beforehand to look at fiction first and academic last, otherwise they would probably have skipped over the fiction altogether.

"I never do," Horatio grumbled good-naturedly. His parents had named him after the Hamlet character and they had been absolutely delighted upon learning from their son that the Bard had been magical. They had taken to mentioning it proudly every time Horatio came back for breaks.

"I suppose I'll buy the full collection. After all, I haven't read many of the tragedies and I want to know the origin of your namesake," Tracey winked at him as she picked up the thick tome before they moved along.

After an hour or so, they had finally worked their way through the entire store. As Tracey put her large book pile on the counter to make her purchase, Horatio quickly slid his pile on as well and pulled out his money pouch before she could protest.

"You didn't have to buy me all of these, you know. I had quite a few…" Tracey fretted a bit as they walked away from the shop, their purchases shrunken down to a more manageable degree.

"I'm not exactly poor, Trace. Consider it an early Christmas present slash a memory for the first date," Horatio responded, his cheeks heating up a bit as he said the word "date."

"Fine, but you're letting me buy lunch and that's final!" Tracey huffed, but Horatio could tell she was secretly pleased. Her cheeks had also taken on a pleasant pinkish tint.

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go back to the castle and spend the rest of the day reading some of our purchases. Everyone's out of the castle right now, so I could take you to the Gryffindor dorms and no one would bother you. In front of the fireplace is the best spot," Horatio's blush grew darker as Tracey looked up at him with a giant sparkle in her eyes and a smile plastered on her face.

"I'd like that very much," she said sweetly. He took her hand and they maneuvered their way back to the path leading up to the castle. They made it to the front doors and Tracey suddenly stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Horatio smiled and kissed hers in return. The date wasn't even halfway over and it was already a spectacular success.

* * *

 **Word Count: 864**

 **Hall of Mirrors: Genderbend**

 **Hedge Maze: (word) spectacular**


	3. Soulmate

**even as a shadow, even as a dream: Hermione knows she is not meant to be with Ron, but learning you have a Soulmate can come with unforeseen consequences**

* * *

It started like any other Sunday. Hermione woke up hours before Ron, heading into their kitchen to fix up some coffee and a light breakfast for herself. She would make another one later on for when Ron finally got out of bed. Then, they would head to the Burrow for the weekly Weasley family dinner. Ever since the war ended, those dinners had been bursting the Burrow at the seams with the number of strays the family had collected throughout the years. The Burrow was just a place that radiated warmth and love, and there were many more who needed that these days. Andromeda and Teddy, for example, were always there.

But this Sunday, Hermione felt herself breaking. She was stretched thin to the maximum point and she knew it was because of the man she was living with and she knew it was because she had realized she didn't really love him. She couldn't have loved him even if she tried.

She wanted to love him. She thought that she had, her constant stress during their sixth year at school, the frustration and loneliness during the Horcrux Hunt, it always came back to one Ronald Weasley. Lately, however, the spark that she had assumed was meant for Ron had all but disappeared, if it had ever been there at all.

It had been almost a year since the war had ended. She had thought the emptiness she felt was due to its aftermath, that after some time to heal things would go back to normal and she would feel as she had before. She hadn't worried too much about it.

But after so long, she couldn't convince herself that it was just the war had affected her feelings. After all, everything else had gone back to almost normalcy a few months ago. Yes, things were still rough at times, and many nights she woke up drenched in sweat from nightmares, but she had still felt like she was well on her way to healing. So why could she not feel love for Ron?

She had been worrying on it for weeks now, and she didn't know how many more fake impassioned moments she could have with Ron before she broke down. She didn't want to hurt him, didn't want and the rest of the clan to hate her for breaking his heart, didn't even want to know what Harry would say or what the consequences would be. She just wanted it to work. But not matter what she did, no matter how much she tried to convince herself, she realized she could not love him.

Truthfully, she had been up almost the whole night, researching any spells that could potentially help her break the news to him. She had found herself engrossed in a book about soulmates, and things had started to make a bit more sense.

The book had mentioned that each of a pair of soulmates could not hold true romantic feelings for anyone other than their mate. A crush seemed to be about as far as it went. It had also mentioned that not every witch or wizard had a soulmate, and had provided a fairly simple incantation to determine whether or not the caster had one. As it turned out, she did.

She had felt her heart flutter at that. A true Soulmate. She wanted to feel that love. As much as she hated the romantic and girly antics of her previous roommates, she couldn't deny wanting to have someone she was truly meant to be with for the rest of her life. She felt hope knowing there would be something better than this one-sided love she had with Ron right now. (as she assumed, or at least hoped at this point, he wasn't her Soulmate)

Thankfully, the book had also included a spell to cast upon another person that could potentially be the caster's soulmate. There would be a brief glow of red or blue, (visible only to the caster) the former meaning a negative and the latter an affirmation. She had almost immediately snuck into her bedroom, where Ron was fast asleep, to cast the spell on him. It had been red.

So here she was, sitting at the kitchen table and sipping coffee, the book on soulmates laid out in front of her as she thumbed through it.

 _A witch or wizard's Soulmate can never intentionally harm their other half._ Maybe this Soulmate business would be the way to break it off with Ron without hurting as many feelings. That is, if they didn't get offended by her casting the spells in the first place.

 _The Soulmate bond can be felt at any distance, at any time, any place in the world. Often, if they have yet to be united, Soulmates will dream of the other, their subconscious mind demonstrating the yearning of the soul to be complete._ She sighed. She never dreamed anymore, not since the war. Only nightmares or blackness plagued her mind, if she could even sleep at all. Perhaps she needed to see a mind healer. God knew she had experienced enough trauma solely at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, let alone any other part of that hellish year.

 _Pairs of Soulmates have mentioned that, after meeting their other half, if they are separated for long periods of time each of the pair can feel a number of distressing emotions._ Hermione almost snorted at that. If that was the only indicator if she had met her Soulmate or not, she felt it would be a long time before she would realize those feelings meant anything other than PTSD-type symptoms.

 _In the event of -_ "Morning, 'Mione," Hermione jumped as she heard Ron's voice from the doorway, quickly shutting her book and placing it in her lap. She didn't even want to know what he would think if he saw the title of it.

"You're up exceedingly early today. I must say, I'm a bit impressed," Hermione said to him as he rummaged through the cabinets, not doubt trying to find an easy snack. She felt herself smile. Even if she felt strained and anxious about the inevitable end to their relationship, and even if she didn't love him romantically, she still knew she cared for Ron deeply. They had been through too much together for them to not be close, and part of her anxiety came from the very real worry that Ron would take the end of their relationship very badly.

Ron had found a bit of bread and blueberry spread and he answered, "Don't know if I'll stay awake, to be honest. Too hungry to sleep. Hope you have a nice morning, though," he mumbled. Hermione let out a soft chuckle as Ron took his bread and jam back to the room. She fully expected to hear loud snores coming from the back room in about five minutes. Her stomach knotted back up again at the thought of losing this easiness with him, so she turned back to the book to try and distract herself with knowledge.

 _In the event of the death of a Soulmate, the living pair is said to feel a constant ache in the chest, is prone to headaches and illness, and some have described an empty feeling, "as if my insides had been hollowed out." It is unknown if these feelings abate or grow over time._

Hermione frowned at this new bit of information. The knot in her stomach grew tighter as she recognized these symptoms in her own body, the ones that had made her feel almost exactly as the book had described. She tried to slow her breathing, convincing herself that she was worrying where she had nothing to actually worry about. Everyone felt different after the war, she had just been affected more than most, being at the center of everything with Harry. It was normal that she felt these things. There was a completely logical explanation. It did not mean that her Soulmate was dead.

She flipped back a few chapters to find the section on searching for the Soulmate. There wasn't a simple spell to use to find out the specific name of your Soulmate. She had been disappointed at that. However… _an individual with a Soulmate pair, upon entering a meditative state, can call forth an image of their Soulmate. The meditative state is similar to the state of mind one might use for Occlumency or an Animagus transformation. An image of the Soulmate can be called forth whether the mate is alive, dead, or, in rarer cases, yet to be born._

She felt her hands trembling and knew she had to calm herself before she could enter into her state. After Harry had tried and failed to use Occlumency his fifth year, she had decided to try and take up the mind magic. If nothing else, she thought it would be a great study tool, and a way to organize her mind. She had become pretty decent at the meditative state. So she found herself in her small library room, plopped herself in the comfiest armchair, and tried to center herself as best as she could in this state.

It took a long time, much longer than it had ever taken her before, even when she was just beginning. She had started to worry that Ron would wake up again and interrupt her before she was finished, before cursing herself at breaking her meditation by worrying about it in the first place.

But then she felt herself sinking into it, and her hands ran over silky grass. She sighed as she entered her meadow. It still made her laugh sometimes that she had such a simple mindscape. But in the end, that's what truly calmed her. Simplicity. She shook her head slightly and chastised herself. If she kept going on with rambling thoughts like that she would break herself out of the state and she would have to start all over again.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw movement to her left. She stood up quickly, her vision going a bit black from the blood rushing through her body. As it cleared, the body approaching her came into view. She felt her jaw go slack as she recognized the man walking towards her. She saw him every week at the Burrow and she wanted to laugh hysterically at the irony of the situation.

"George?" She called out incredulously. He still hadn't quite reached her yet, but she could see him cock his head at her. His features were coming into clearer view and the shock still rocked her body as she took them all in. The red hair was a clear indicator even from a mile away, and as he got closer she took in his freckled face and sweet brown eyes. She couldn't believe she was already thinking of them as sweet. He looked at her with a sad little smile, and her eyes raked over George yet again and he -

No.

 _Two ears._

She stopped breathing. If she kept breathing, that meant she was alive and she was real and that this was happening and that it was not George Weasley standing in front of her, but _Fred._ But then she had to breathe and and her first breath in was shuddering and the immediate breath after was a choked sob and she couldn't stop the high-pitched, unearthly noise that came with it. She was on her knees and she couldn't stop crying and it only became worse when she felt a warmth on her shoulder, not quite the presence of a hand but it was still _there_ and she knew it was him.

She woke back into the library room, her face wet and her breath shallow. She had fallen out of the chair, silently weeping. She couldn't will her body to start sobbing again. Her energy had been sapped, her resolve crushed at this horrifying twist of Fate. She hadn't even been able to know him. Not like she would have wanted to have known him. She knew she had always felt a draw towards the twins, her mood lifting when they were in her presence, but she had never noticed that the feeling was specifically geared towards Fred. She had attributed anything to the twins magnetism and charm.

Everything hurt. She couldn't process this, she didn't want to think she would never feel that kind of love, that she had never even gotten the chance. It had been stolen from her, stolen from both of them. Was she doomed to spend the rest of her time alive in a loveless, empty existence?

She couldn't breathe again. It hurt too much. She let her eyes close and her head rest on the ground, exhaustion hit her and she just wanted to sleep. She wanted to forget, or to see his face in her dreams, and that brought along a new set of sobs as she remembered another bit from the book.

Would she ever be able to dream of him again?

* * *

 **Insane House Challenge: First Line - It started like any other Sunday.**

 **Hall of Mirrors: SoulmateAU**


	4. Adoption: Hermione Malfoy

"You know I've always wanted a little girl, Lucius," Narcissa pleaded with her husband. She wanted to make him understand, to put aside his inherent blood prejudice for two seconds and realize what they were being offered.

There had been a magical explosion in a town just outside of London that the Ministry had been covering up for the past few days. Things had become doubly complicated when they realized the source of the explosion was an unprecedented amount of accidental magic from a tiny three year old. One that had brought the house down around her and killed her parents. They had heard her crying in the rubble.

The Ministry was urging some family to take her in now. She knew they likely would only give the girl to a Pureblood family, as they should. The young Muggleborn needed to be taken in by a family who could raise her properly. Narcissa often wondered why they didn't take magical children from the Muggle world as soon as they were able.

"But, this little girl? A Mudblood? In our family?" Lucius scoffed, "Narcissa, dear, I know we've both had a hard time these past few years, but I cannot see how adopting her into our family would help."

Narcissa sighed and leaned against her husband. They truly had had a difficult few years. She had been through two miscarriages before Draco had stuck, but the delivery might have killed her if it hadn't been for a particularly clever midwife. From then on, the couple had decided to stop trying to conceive, even if it killed them both inside to decide it.

In the earliest years of their marriage, before they were married even, they had often laid together and daydreamed about all the beautiful children they would make to keep their Manor lively and bright. It was a dream both of them shared. And how Narcissa longed to have a little girl. Though Lucius would deny it, she knew he wanted a daughter almost as badly as she did.

"If we adopt her she will have a proper upbringing. Just think of all the innate magical power she must have from performing such a stunt like this at the age of three. We could help her with that, Lucius. We could raise her to truly know how to control her magic, raise her up to be strong and powerful. She could make our family name shine," she trailed off, looking up at Lucius with wide eyes.

He was silent for a long time, so silent that if he hadn't been holding her and stroking her back she would have wondered if she argued too far this time. But then, he spoke, "Draco does seem to be pretty lonely. This manor can make you feel very isolated if you don't have a constant playmate."

Narcissa's eyes shone with happy tears as she let out a very unladylike squeal of glee. She knew he had just agreed. It had honestly been a lot easier than she had expected. She wiped her tears and headed off the her bedroom to fix herself up before heading to the Ministry with her husband.

It was time to bring her daughter home.

* * *

Draco had surprised them all by immediately taking to the young girl. The poor thing was obviously quite shell-shocked from the incident, and had spent most of the first days at the manor clinging to Narcissa. The new mother/daughter duo had instantly become attached.

Narcissa and Lucius were both expecting a few temper tantrums from Draco in the beginning. After all, he had grown up an only child thus far and his parents had always been his and his alone. Not to mention he was constantly spoiled by them.

The first evening, however, the newest Malfoy (Hermione, she was called, which Narcissa thought was particularly lovely) was quietly whimpering while Narcissa rocked her. Even Lucius sat by her side and stroked the girl's hair a bit. He would never admit it, he was already a bit smitten with her. It had helped that the family magic had easily accepted the young witch into their family. If he had had any doubts left about adopting her, they were quelled in that instant.

Draco had picked himself off the ground, and climbed up by his mother's side as well. Before she could gently reprimand what she saw as jealousy, he had grabbed Hermione's hand and laid his head on her shoulder. The girl's whimpers had died down immediately and both children had quickly fallen asleep. Narcissa and Lucius had shared a wide-eyed look before determining the two would share a room for the next few years at least.

* * *

It was Hermione's fourth birthday and the manor was alight with warmth and happiness. The little girl had come a long way from when she had first arrived almost nine months prior. She and Draco were thick as thieves, and there wasn't a day that went by when the two weren't getting into some mischief on the grounds. Narcissa often had to lock herself up in the bedroom and cry at how magic had given her back what she thought she had lost forever. Sometimes, she even saw Lucius watch the two with mist in his eyes.

"Your friends will be coming soon, dear, we must get your hair done," Narcissa wagged her finger at the young girl who had just entered the dining room. Both her and Draco had been trying to sneak in all morning to catch a glimpse of the cake or of presents.

She pouted at that and Narcissa couldn't help but chuckle. Draco had definitely been influencing the girl at how best to get what she want. Luckily, Narcissa was resistant to pout-face at this point. Most of the time.

She lightly bounded over to the girl and scooped her up, layering kisses on her face as Hermione giggled for her to stop. She carried her into Hermione and Draco's room - the younger boy wasn't around, but Narcissa had a sneaking suspicion she knew where he was - and plopped the girl down by the vanity. She could have had the house-elves fix up her hair, but Hermione had once before asked Narcissa to brush it and she hadn't been able to give up that job since. In any case, it gave her and her adopted daughter some sweet time to bond together.

"Is Pansy coming?" Hermione asked as Narcissa started to braid one side of her hair.

"Yes, dear, she and Millie both are coming. Little Theo is going to be late because they're seeing his mother first before coming over," Hermione nodded as solemnly as a four year old could at that. Theo was one of her best friends, and she knew his mummy was really sick.

"Do you think someone brought me a cat today?" Hermione asked excitedly and Narcissa chuckled. The girl had been relentless in her quest to get a cat familiar, ever since she had spotted one roaming the outskirts of the grounds.

"I'm not sure, darling. A cat might be a bit too much for a fourth birthday," Narcissa replied, knowing full well Lucius was out right now picking one out for the girl.

"That's okay. I'll just get one before Hogwarts," she grinned as Narcissa finished up the other side. She waved her wand to get rid of the flyaways (and Hermione's hair certainly had many of those) before tying two white ribbons at the bottom of the plaits.

"You're all finished, my dear," Narcissa kissed the girl on the forehead as Hermione beamed up at her, "Why don't you go and find your terror of a brother and tell him it's his turn to get ready."

"Okay. Thanks, Mummy," Narcissa froze as Hermione kissed her cheek and ran off quickly through the doorway. Her hand raised to cover her cheek and tears sprang to her eyes. It had only been a week since Hermione had first called her that and she still hadn't been able to get used to the surge of happiness it sent through her. Happiness and relief.

She grinned as she heard both of her children squealing and running down the corridors towards the room. Her house was filled with so much love.

* * *

The party had ended a few hours before and she and Lucius were putting the children to bed earlier than usual. Even with their constant running around the manor, today had been an exceptionally wild day for the both of them with all of their little friends running about as well.

Hermione's new kitten, Babbity, followed along, purring loudly and happily. Narcissa thanked the heavens that she seemed to be a well-behaved animal.

Lucius gently laid Draco into his bed, the boy was already asleep and lightly snoring. Narcissa sat down with Hermione, the girl fighting to stay awake so she could say goodnight to everyone. Lucius quickly joined her to sit on the girl's bed and the three smiled together.

"I hope you had a lovely birthday, darling," Narcissa whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear. Hermione's grin grew wider, though her eyes drooped.

"We'll talk more tomorrow about how to properly care for Babbity. I hope your day was wonderful, too, my little Hermione," Lucius leaned forward to kiss the girl on the forehead before Narcissa laid her down and tucked her blankets uo around her.

"Goodnight, my love," Narcissa spoke softly, squeezing Lucius' hand and going to kiss Draco goodnight.

"G'night, Mummy. G'night, Papa," Hermione mumbled, almost unintelligently. Narcissa led Lucius quickly from the room, seeing how the man had started shaking at Hermione's words.

They had almost made it to their bedroom before Lucius started laughing. Narcissa was bewildered as her head whipped to face him.

"She called me 'Papa,'" He said through his chuckles, and Narcissa softened as she realized he was in shock, but he was happy.

"You are her Papa," Narcissa said, grabbing his hand once more as they walked to bed.

"I am her Papa," He repeated, the chuckles gone. His face was the perfect picture of contentment and wonder, "I never knew that I would feel this way about her. I'm glad you convinced me to take her in, dear. She fits so well and Draco is so happy and…" he trailed off, getting choked up. Narcissa laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I love her, too," she said gently.

* * *

 **Word count: 1741**

 **Hedge Maze: (genre) family**

 **Hall of Mirrors: Adoption!AU**

 **Hamilton Mania: (relationship) parent/child; (optional) Hermione Granger**

 **365 Challenge: 242. (relationship) parent/child**


End file.
